10 Signs You Grew Up In Rome New York

Romans are a proud bunch. Having the title of “Growing up in Rome” isn’t something we just throw around on the table.

10) You Remember Going To The Saint John’s Festival On East Dominick Street

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You remember riding the Musical Express until you puked all over the parking lot. You remember begging your Dad to ride the Parachuter Ferris wheel ride together, and you remember chowing down on Fried Dough…. of course all in the name of raising money for the lord.

9) You Remember Getting Ice Cream At The Frozen Cow

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Before Nickey Doodles, Rome had the Frozen Cow just passed Walmart. My sister always reminds us how it felt like the parking lot would go on forever before you got up to the window to order ice cream. Of course Nickey Doodles is a great replacement for The Frozen Cow, and especially watching the countdown till it’s open each season.

8) It Took Forever To Go “All The Way” To Utica

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Romans today take for granted Route 49. Back more then ten years ago if you wanted to go “all the way” to Utica, you had to take Route 69, drive through Oriskany, Whitesboro, and so on to get there. It took a whole day to drive out there it seems. Now a days it takes a smooth 10-15 minutes.

7) Fridays Were Meant For Fish Fries From Stan’s Sea Food

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If it was Friday, you remember standing in a very packed line at Stan’s to buy a fish fry. It was also like ordering from the Soup Nazi so you had to be very careful on how you ordered. The line was always very long, but, you never waited long. The line would move extremely fast.

6) You Remember Playing In The Backyard And Looking Up Every Time Planes Flew To Griffiss

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You remember planes flying extremely low in the sky as they headed for the large air strip at Griffiss. Chances are you had family working there and always wondered what top secret military missions were going on. Then in 1999 the greatest music festival took place, Woodstock 99. Griffiss was cool again for another 5 minutes.

5) You Remember The Dairy Queen

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Every Roman just got a tear in their eye while reading number 5. Who didn’t love Dairy Queen? It was a Rome staple. I think people miss this more than they miss other parts of their childhood. At least Nicky Doodles is a great replacement for Dairy Queen, and now Friendly’s.

4) You Went To An Oldiez 96.1 Car Show

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It wasn’t a Friday in Rome without our station hosting a car cruise-in. It seems to have been a staple through so many years. Faces at the station have changed, but our weekly car shows have been going on forever.

3) You Remember Shopping At Great American

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Remember when Great American was open in Rome? This was in presently where you can find Chestnut Commons. I remember eating lunch there when I was real little.

2) You Caught A Movie At The Original Rome Drive-In

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The Rome Drive-In brought some many memories to so many Romans. Lucky for us, there is still a portion of the Drive-In in use today. I remember waiting all winter for the sign to not say “See You Next Season”.

1) You Took Trips To Fort Stanwix Before It Was A Fort

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The Forst stands in our great city today, but do you know what stood on the same ground before they rebuilt it? Remember shopping at the strip of stores that laid where the Fort lays now? Remember the original Herb Philipson’s being there? Either way, do you remember your first trip to the Fort? How about the fact you probably drive by it every day and take it for granted.

What Would You Add To The List?

What We Were Told To Add By You

From Sally Lloyd: The Paul Revere Sign on Revere Copper and Brass, Rays Drive In run by Frank and Chris ray, and Columbus School.

From Rosi Dunn McCoy: Firemen’s Field Days in the summer!!

From Michelle Lints: the one day in Rome in June that the GAF Base was open to the public for commanders day, you could go to the neighborhood park and swim for free, or going to the ponderosa for either the sundae bar or the breakfast buffet, eating at the counter in Jupiters or Flo’s diner. I grew up in Rome in the 70s, 80s, and part of the 90s

From Eric Martin: St Johns Field Days… The Living Bridge, and Dino’s Pizza.

As you enter the city of Rome, you are greeted with a revolutionary way Fort named Fort Stanwix. Many residents of Rome believe this fort is haunted with a variety of ghosts. Unlike other haunted locations who only have weird experiences at night, paranormal experiences have been reported around the clock.

Everyone in Utica and Rome are all about “buy local”, “Shop local”, and the following phrase “Why would you want to go any where else when we have the best BLANK in Utica/Rome?”. If you really want to be a local, you need to dress like one of our many treasures during Halloween.

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